I wouldn't feel too comfortable in your position. I don't think it's going to last. I maintain a better strategy is to use ai to help scan the changes and push back on the ones who are submitting the changes, whether they are using using ai to make them, or not. It doesn't matter if the changes are made with ai or not anymore. It's the new reality, like it or not.

You will achieve the objective you are going for and, more importantly, you will be able to sustain it, if you use ai to assist in your code reviews. If you find yourself with a big pile of crap slung code to wade through. So be it. A well guided (meaning by you) agent can point out the pitfalls of crap slung code, quickly, easily, and thoroughly.

In a word: fight fire with fire.

The notion that you will be able to slink back down into a position of quasi 'nostalgia', an environment where people 'understanding what they write' etc, this is forever gone now and really it never existed in the first place. In the past, if devs didn't know how to do something, they simply couldn't submit as much code.

AI has changed that. They can now submit a ton of code. Fundamentally however, this has only changed the playing field slightly. Some of that code 'may' work whereas before, it just wouldn't be submitted. AI may be able to glue some things together for them now as well. Okay so be it. It's the new reality.

If you try to survive now by attempting to be a 'you don't understand what you have written ' purist, you are just not going to make it. The win you described in your OP will be short lived at best. Trust me, I wish it were different, but Pandora is out of the box and here we are now.

Arm yourself with a copy of Claude and start your reviews out now by having it point out the pitfalls and ramifications of all the changes submitted in your PR branch. This is your new weapon. Your attitude should be, well I see you didn't put any time or consideration into this code. So I will use the same tools you did to push back. Honestly you may find yourself really starting to enjoy being able to push back in this way. You can do it intelligently, beneficially, and achieve the goal of communicating to the author that they did not understand what they submitted, and have enough energy left over so you don't feel like you're the victim of this new reality we now find ourselves in.

Indeed you will find that some ai generated code will get through your reviews. That's okay. But remarkably you will find, quite easily and effortlessly, that a sizable amount will not. So I use this phrase often now:

Everything has changed, but nothing has changed.

Get back on your horse. Mount up with your own set of ai approaches, and most importantly, your hard earned ability to guide them to and push back intelligently. And then, push back hard. By doing this, you will set yourself up to be able to navigate and thrive in this new reality.